How to improve SEO

This article is part 4 of "Getting a 100% score in lighthouse". Here's a sneak peak at what to expect by the end of the article. Anyways, on with the article!

Importance of SEO

I think most web developers underestimate the importance of SEO.

While paid advertising, social media, and other online platforms can generate traffic to websites, the majority of online traffic is driven by search engines.

Organic search results cover more digital real estate, appear more credible to savvy searchers, and receive way more clicks than paid advertisements. For example, of all US searches, only ~2.8% of people click on paid advertisements.

Accessibility goes hand in hand with SEO

Google has made it clear: Websites that give users a better experience will be more visible in search results pages

You can go check out my previous article but here's a few quick tips to improve accessibility

1. Use semantic elements. Drop <div> and <span>
2. Use aria-* and other attributes
3. Design for the colorblind

Metadata is everything

Including the following meta tags will greatly improve your search rankings

• <meta name="description" />
• <meta name="keywords" />

Open Graph protocol

The open graph protocol controls how your websites URL is displayed when shared on social media.

• <meta name="og:type" /> describes the type of object when shared; possible values include: website, article, or blog. You can see the full list here
• <meta name="og:image" /> the image that appears next to the URL when linked on social media
• <meta name="og:url" /> the canonical url

Naming is important

Short Domain names make your brand more memorable. Domain extensions also matter. For example, if you're a non-profit register both a .com and a .org domain and redirect .com to .org. It's also important to keep things consistent and predictable. The title of your webpage also matters. A long title may make it hard to find the tab because browsers truncate it.

You made it!

This is the last article in my series. I know getting a 100% lighthouse score is difficult. If I can help you in any way, you can always leave a comment. Thanks for making it this far! Keep an eye out for my next article I am planning called "making a chrome extension"